For the first time since this summer, it is possible to admire in the Portuguese capital one of the most sumptuous royal collections in the world.
From our correspondent in Lisbon,
In 2021, Lisbon experienced a true revolution of… palaces. The Palace of Ajuda, located in the district of the same name in the west of the Portuguese capital, then received its last stone, 226 years after the laying of the first. It is indeed on a hill of Ajuda that the Portuguese court had settled the day after the terrible earthquake of 1755 which destroyed the capital. All this took time, the money ran out, the royalty had to flee to Brazil: the palace was never finished.
In 2018, when Lisbon decided to levy a tourist tax of 2 euros per visitor, the authorities opted to devote part of the funds collected to heritage development. Thus, in 2021, the courtyard, until then open to the four winds of the Palace of Ajuda, was closed by adding a fourth wing to the building. Security was guaranteed to build the Royal Treasury Museum (MTR). Thirty-one million euros were devoted to this renovation, of which 18 came from the tourist tax.
A royal safe
” It may seem surprising, but actually, Portugal did not have a royal museum until now. A partial exhibition took place in 1991. This time, you can see the collection, and our museum has nothing to envy to its European colleagues “, is moved José Alberto Ribeiro, director of the National Palace of Ajuda.
The safe installed in the fourth wing of the building is 40 meters long, wide and 10 meters high. It has only two doors, at the entrance and at the exit, to control the number of visitors. Security comes first, as the Royal Treasury Museum showcases 736 coins, artifacts and jewellery, across three levels of bulletproof display cases. Dark hallways showcase the 23,000 gemstones, including 18,000 diamonds that make up the collection. On the walls of the access ramps, the portraits of kings and queens display tiaras, diadems and swords, signs of the wealth of sovereigns. The eleven themes declined in the safe magnify the former glory of a court that was one of the richest in Europe.
Admirable royal world
Between a 22-kilo raw gold nugget brought back from Brazil or a gold-embroidered blanket offered by a pope to a royal child, the collection is surprisingly rich. France is often a reference there. It is found to be the origin of the insignia of the Golden Fleece, a chivalrous order which was created by Philip III of Burgundy, known as Philip the Good, upon his marriage to Isabella of Portugal in 1430. The exhibit was commissioned by Prince Regent D. João, future King João VI, around 1790. With its 1,700 diamonds, 190 rubies and 36-carat sapphire, it is one of the most remarkable in the world.
On the third and final level of the vault, another surprise awaits visitors. The table service that is set up there is made up of four place settings, for roasts, fish, entremets and desserts. Or more than 400 pieces of a French service which has 1,000, in solid silver and in the Rococo style. Actors in period costume come to sit at the table regularly through a video. The service, which was commissioned by King José I in 1756 from the Atelier Germain du Louvre, was cut off from part of its last place setting, that of the desserts. The goldsmith went bankrupt before concluding it.
Ups and downs
Like their owning highnesses, the jewels of the Portuguese crown have experienced setbacks and snubs. Starting with the magnificent tiara of D. Maria II, with diamonds and sapphires, whose auction value reached 1.3 million euros, a sum that Portugal unfortunately could not afford. The tiara was, however, loaned to the MTR by the current owner.
But this is not the only wound of pride that Portugal has to bear. In 2003, the theft of six royal jewels from the Municipal Museum of The Hague, among which the priceless cane knob of King D. José, a very large diamond, caused a shock. The jewels will probably never reappear. As a consolation, some of the insurance money went to fund the museum.
But the MTR does not hesitate to show the other side of the reality of jewellery: colonial looting or the incredible transport of crowns or other effects, serving as pledge or currency of exchange. Suitcases in a window symbolize a certain decay in which royalty ended: the rich objects spent time locked in trunks and kept in a bank or in the reserves of museums. But it was perhaps also their chance to remain intact, or almost, until our days.